Carlos Hazday

Thanks, Chonga! (your moniker always makes me smile, are you aware of its connotation down here in South Florida?) CJ was a dick to Owen right after they met and for almost a year afterward. Part of his coming of age is how his relationship with the Aussie develops. I've tried to show them learning to get past the sex and physical attraction. It's why I included the scene of CJ forcing him to talk about what he did at the Nature Conservancy last chapter. I didn't want them to be clones of each other so one's more of a public figure than the other one. Also, CJ's not the type to use pet names and use sugary language all the time but he does have a little romantic streak running through him. If he and Owen stay together, we'll hopefully see some more of it.

@Kitt I think the sense of loyalty CJ's displayed in the past will ensure he never abandons his friends. I remember leaving home for college and reconnecting with high school friends during Christmas and summer breaks. We didn't see each other every day any longer and we'd made new friends but we didn't forget each other. Today's cyber-connected world makes it easier to keep in touch. I have a Facebook account primarily to keep in touch with fraternity friends I made in school or afterward when I served as a national officer. CJ values his friends and the internet's not enough. It's why he and Owen spent a heck of a lot more time with Chipper when they were in South Beach than they did at the reception they traveled to Miami for. And why he made time to go see Sean whuile in New York for another political event.

Glad you liked it, bud.

@mister will I grew up and went to school in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Because both were Spanish colonies, the history of Spain and to a degree of Portugal, was taught in more depth than I saw in what my US-born younger brother experience in an American prep school. My fluency in Portuguese and muddling through French are made easier by Spanish being my native tongue. During the 1996 Olympics, friends were surprised when I could communicate with some Romanian athletes. They had no idea Romania was part of the Roman Empire and their language also evolved from Latin.

CJ being nice to people proves this isn't autobiographical! Ritchie's been a challenge to write. He's integral to the story so he needs airtime, but I don't want to shift the focus away from CJ or repeat what I already wrote about the big brother. I'm trying to give him his own distinct personality without having him take over. We've done the high school thing and it's time to move forward. With there being a large difference in age between them, CJ gets to be a substitute parent at times.

@Daddydavek I haven't been to Fire Island in over thirty years and I know things are a bit different but I want CJ and Ozzie to experience another one of the gay meccas. They've done South Beach already and in the chapter I'm working on right now they're in West Hollywood. It seemed right a young, wealthy, gay couple should experience them. I visited the place with straight friends more than once, not staying in The Pines, and my recollection of the quiet environment (and cold water) helped shape the scene. Unfortunately, I never did the seaplane. I'm jealous of them!

@Anthony McNally Full disclosure---CJ's politics and opinions do not mirror mine. There are similarities but I don't agree with him on everything. Take a look at my response to the comment left by Chris. The series has three distinct sections focusing on different areas of CJ's development. If it'll make you feel better, I just finished writing about CJ's 21st birthday party and the entire Squad (plus a few other guests) are involved. Think of this section as a stepping stone to the future. I'm confused by something you said: the relevance of the story being posted on GA. Would you mind expanding on that. I honestly want to know why you feel that way. The main character is gay, his sexuality shapes many of his actions and words, and the author's definitely gay so I'm not sure why you think it doesn't belong on this site. Thanks for the feedback and I encourage you to stick around.

Damn, you're cruising right through the chapters, aren't you? I don't mind rants. If someone goes off on something I post I'll either agree or disagree but I won't reject it. Online conversations can be misleading; emphasis and intent don't always come across well. Hence the popularity of emojis! So what someone may deem a rant or what you may consider a snarky reply could be simply a matter of perception. While in college, I worked as a guide for Brasilian tourists visiting the Central and South Florida areas. I took two years of Intensive Basic Portuguese in school and combined with my fluency in Spanish, I was able to communicate. I was always told my Portuguese might not work in Portugal! Never knew Thiago was the equivalent of Diego! Thanks for that tidbit. I wanted a typical Brasilian name for the character and that one fit. There'll be at least one more character with roots in Brasil in the future and the name I've chosen is from a friend who lives in Brasilia. They may never read the story but if they do, hopefully they'll like it.

The first section of the series was all about CJ's move and his interactions with his dads' friends. In Walls, the focus shifted with the emphasis being on his own friends. With Roar, the emphasis is on CJ himself and his relationship with Owen. Some may even accuse me of writing romance in upcoming sections LOL

LOL- Damn right I warned you. I tried to follow Mann's advice to ensure there was other stuff moving the story forward but the political events are essential to CJ's development. After all, this is a coming-of-age story and the political environment in DC is bound to help shape his future. Your comment, and several others made in the past force me to re-think the approach. Some readers like where I've taken CJ, some don't but this has been planned all along.I think I'll stick to my plan. CJ became a big fish in a little pond (WALLS) and now it's reversed, he's a small cog in a big machine and it'll help shape his future. Chapter 7 ends on election night. Then, politics will take a back seat. But once again, he lived in DC and politicians are like weeds in that city so it'll always be around to a degree. At least he gets to meet a lot of people not directly involved in politics.

The meeting with the faculty advisor yielded the results CJ was looking for. The man adjusted his class schedule so he was done in the early afternoon each day. Based on the advisor’s voiced understanding and support for his involvement in the presidential campaign, CJ suspected he was not the first student in a similar position. With the modifications approved, his plan for the semester was to visit the gym at Yates Fieldhouse early each morning, shower and change in the locker room, and

Not sure why, but I'm smiling. Dark subject matter but so damn well written I hope to read more from you. The conflict between Kigston's two side was handled in a way to make them both like able. And it's as it should be, after all there are two sides to him but in the end it's the same person and we can love his light and dark side at the same time.

Damn, that was hard to read and I did sniffle at the end. Spent too many hours in the old AIDS wards visiting sick men. Attended too many funerals. My grandmother died in a nursing home with a feeding tube in her. My mother's currently institutionalized for the same dreaded Alzheimer's that took her mother. You captured the sadness of homophobia, AIDS, and dementia, and put me through the ringer. The ending's realistic---I kept hoping Max wouldn't be a miracle and recover---yet offers a glimmer of hope. To buck the usual trend of readers asking for more, I'll implore you leave this little gem as is. I caught glimpses of several possible future developments floating through my mind; decided to ignore them all. Each reader can fast-forward as much or as little as they choose. I choose to hit stop along with you. Well done.

Thanks! One day I hope to return to this series, edit the stories posted so far, and finish writing a few others I've outlined. I think my writing was too amateurish when I posted these and they could be improved now I have a little experience under my belt. Gotta concentrate on the CJ series first though and that will take a few more months to complete.

@mister will I'll place you on the list of readers who don't object to political content! That type of content will increase as the story moves into 2016 and CJ becomes involved in the campaign. His political philosophy will take a while to develop and we'll be along for the ride.

Once again, it's dialogue and you're trying to make the character sound like a stuffy English professor. As with your previous suggestion about not ending a sentence with a preposition, it's not the way real people talk---particularly a teen in the 21st Century.

The troll is being ignored on this one. Aside from my firm belief rules are made to be broken (stuffy grammar rules in particular), the line you object to is part of a conversation. I try to make dialogue realistic, my characters aren't English professors and they shouldn't speak at such. My guys use slang, cuss, and play loose with grammar rules. If you pay attention (it'll be more noticeable in future chapters where I've refined my style better) you'll notice the cast uses contractions but I avoid them in narration. Just another sign of how spoken and written language differ.

Trolls are welcome and encouraged around here... Don't be shy. Typo will be corrected in a minute. Thank you so much! Honestly, I appreciate readers letting me know when something's not quite right.

Interesting premise and characters so far. I'll agree with the others; it was a fun read with nice pacing. Please ask for help from the GA community. There's a multitude of simple errors a beta reader with a little experience could help fix. I found them distracting enough to detract from entirely enjoying the chapter. If nothing else, you should at least change the references to Harry from female to male!

You may ask any author a question. I guess I fall in the category. Do NOT be discouraged if the question you ask isn't answered immediately, I'm trying to build inventory and will try to group authors in a thematic way. This month and next include queries to and replies from two authors, I hope to increase those numbers starting in the new year.

Don't limit yourself to poets. Ask anything you want to from any author; I'll do my best to cajole them into answering!

Pitching in to help, Val. Now all I need is questions (Hint, hint) and when we have enough I'll expand from just two authors a month. December's done and I'd like to feature poetry in January. If anyone has questions for one of our poets, now's the time to send them to me so I can pass them along.

@Defiance19 Harley will get his solo time with CJ and Ozzie in a future installment. A modeling gig would be fun to write, I'll see what I can do. Joe's Stone Crab has been an institution for over a hundred years, 'in existence since before Miami Beach became a city! The main dining room is loud, the wait can be a pain even when you grease the Maitre D's palm, and the prices are outrageous. But the crabs make it worth it and the Key Lime Pie is still the best I've ever eaten. Mango's hasn't been around as long but it's one of Ocean Drive's institutions. I may have had a cocktail or five there. The series has focused on family--biological or aggregated--from the start. I wanted to show CJ hasn't lost track of what's really important in life. I've tried to show Cesar and Brett balancing personal and professional lives and hopefully, it has rubbed off on their son. CJ and Owen are still getting to know each other even after a couple of years together. I've tried to show their relationship grow slowly instead of the tired love-at-first-sight let's-become-a-couple-with-no-issues approach.

CJ might still get nervous at times when facing a large crowd, but since his first speech at Walls while in 10th grade, his confidence has grown. Some people have a knack for public speaking and our boy's one of them. I do enjoy writing his speeches, I try to make them inspirational while getting the facts across. Hopefully, I succeed.

@Defiance19 Thanks, Def. Owen has shown remarkable patience which isn't exactly one of CJ's virtues. He's not a wallflower, but he seems happy to play second fiddle. CJ's obviously proud of him and may push him into the limelight in the future---as long as they remain together. The way CJ reacted to the separation of Doc and Chip, and later to Dragon and King breaking up, I don't think he'll be cheating while he's in a relationship. Should he find himself single in the future, however, watch out boys!